Christmas 2012

I will have some Christmas Eve Party pictures to show, when my daughter sends me some. I took it extra easy that night (even wore a sparkly sweatshirt and jeans instead of a dress) and forgot to take pictures!

Here is Christmas Day. But first, the BEST present I got, among many lovely ones:

A tiny little pink dog collar. Yes, I'm getting a puppy! Mike and I agreed winter is not the time to bring a new baby into the house, and I told him I wanted Katherine to pick the puppy out some time in the spring--then Mike and Katherine could surprise me. My only criteria: tiny and female! Hence, the pink collar!

Here are some Christmas Day pics:

My little nephew loved the play mats I made for him! He took the fencing I gave him and put it around the 'ocean,' so that: "The water won't leak out all over the room!" He's such a funny kid, so full of imagination! You know, he organizes all his animals? All the hippos in one pen, all the tigers in another! I gave him the first lemur and first family of manatees in his collection!

John got a cool working crane from Santa, so Nicky had to take a picture of it to show his friends!

Katherine has a big smile as she mugs the camera.

Jamie's watching something on TV. Erick's texting, I think.

Didn't get a picture of Michael, or anyone else, but the whole family was there. Noreen made an amazing prime rib, with twice-baked potatoes and more! Mmmmm.

Another wonderful Christmas.

Our Tree, 2012

I am not totally ready for Christmas (who ever is?) but at least the tree is up and decorated. Michael came by last night after work, and Katherine came by much later. James helped out, too, but Nicky was at work until 11.
We got a Douglas Fir this year, instead of the usual balsam. It is fat and happy, as you can see. I really need to get something for the top. We had an angel but it doesn't work any more and I can't find it anyway.
The kids did a great job!

James--much thinner than last year, after spending an hour almost every day on the treadmill! He looks great!

Michael helped me put the lights on before the other kids got home--even so, we didn't finish until about 10 p.m.!

Katherine, joyful even after a long day of work (all she had time to eat was cookies!) and Shadow as a little elf.

Christmas Play

My little nephew John (who's middle name happens to be Joseph) played Joseph in a little play put on by his second-grade religion class. The kids were adorable, and we joined them in singing some of the Christmas Carols. John was great as Baby Jesus's earth-daddy, and he actually held the baby more than "Mary" did! We were all so proud of him!

Count Down

I can't believe Christmas is less than 2 weeks away. I usually start prepping right after Halloween. but lost 9 days because of the hurricane. I've been crazy busy, but I still feel there is so much to do.

This year I'm cheating with some store-bought appetizers, although I'm still making quite a few of my own. Of course, all the cookies are from scratch. I made up some cut-outs yesterday--froze half and hid a few for Mike to enjoy this weekend. They came out really good (the recipe is in the December issue of Redbook) and I think this will be my go-to rolled cookie recipe. I have the dough made for some other recipes, too. Just a matter of taking it out from the freezer and using it. I do my baking like this: mix dry ingredients, bag and label; then make dough another day; then take out dough and bake. Makes it easier not to take up an hour or so between prep and cleaning.

My house looks festive. All but the tree, which is sitting out on the deck until we put it up, probably the weekend before Christmas.

I like to set my decorations up by category. All my snowmen are on top of a hutch, for example. Here's my Snoopy display:

I'm keeping my eyes open for a Charlie Brown to go with the tree.